*blows dust of this here bloggity-blog* *taps mic screen*Hi. I've missed you. You sure look pretty today.I know it has been a shamefully l-o-n-g time since I've done a blog post. I keep tabs on most of y'all on The Twitter, where I tend to spend my online social time. But I felt kind of sad about this poor neglected, lonely blog. It's just that it's been a helluva crazy 2014 and there hasn't been time for blog posts. (And I REALLY don't have time for one right now either, except...) I wanted to let you all know I miss you. And to fill you in on the crazy stuff happening in my life, WHY I haven't been around.I'm still writing books. Except, well, not much in the last couple months...because...... we are in the process of moving 5 states away to my beloved Charleston, SC. (hence the "Lola's Moving Castle" title)

We put our house up here on the market and sold it and bought a house down there. Well, the closing date on both ends is not until July 25th, but everything is under contract.And, friends, if it could go wrong, IT HAS. And we haven't even closed on the house(s) or moved yet. First major glitch was finding out our seemingly perfectly functioning, 9 year old septic system failed our buyer's inspection. And a new one costs $20,000. Okay. Rolled with that punch. But ALL the qualified professionals in a hundred mile radius are booked for months and can't do it in time for closing. Can't do it until mid-autumn! Not to be deterred, I found The Most Expensive Company In ALL The Land and cried and sweet talked and badgered and begged them and coughed up MORE coin... and a new septic is being put in as I type. There's a big backhoe and a gaping maw in my front yard. Fun times.

Lots of other monkey wrenches, but lets skip all of them and skip to the MAJOR wrench: our buyers (smartly) had a Radon test done with their home inspection. Radon tests are not often done around here. Not mandatory or even suggested. The home inspection came back great, as we expected it would. The house is in excellent shape. BUT, holy mother, our radon test failed! 4 times the "acceptable level". I didn't know anything about Radon, but OMG, now I do. Radon guy is coming this Monday to fix our toxic levels of Radon in our house. The cancer-causing radiation gas that has unknowingly been in this house we had built 9 years ago, this house we've been raising our daughter in since third grade. Yeah. That caused a lot of full-on sobbing. And there's nothing I can do to repair any damage it may have done to us. And it's an easy, one-day job, under $2,000 to have fixed. I'd gladly have paid 2k to have the air pump put in IF I KNEW. (so, to be clear, I'm not upset about paying $2k to have it fixed, I'm upset we've been unknowingly living in it)(PLEASE GET YOUR HOME TESTED FOR RADON. It is a silent, odorless, invisible killer. It is cheap to test--they even have DIY kits at your local hardware store--and if you have high levels, it is easy and relatively inexpensive to have a pro fix it and have your levels way down to almost zero. It's in every county of every state in the US and most countries of the world. You don't have to have a basement; your home can test high on a slab or crawl space. Your home can test high even if your next door neighbor just tested fine. It can be at your work, schools, etc. Please. I don't want you to ever feel the way I felt when we found out we've been living with it for almost ten years. Most cities make us have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detecters, but not radon tests, which makes my heart hurt now that I know. I will be testing all of us for lung cancer--chest x-rays-- on a regular basis now. I can't stress enough how serious this is. So many tears just thinking about it. Please PLEASE get your home tested asap.)Speaking of tears, but HAPPY tears, our daughter had her senior prom in May, and graduated high school in June. I'm so proud of her. And next month, in August, she leaves me forever to go off to college and become an adult. ALL THE TEARS.

senior prom

So, anyway, in three weeks we move. I'm hoping nothing else major (or minor) goes wrong. (what could possibly go wrong with the movers and all our stuff on a semi-tractor-trailer loaded by strangers and driven by strangers across country???) (*guzzles more Pepto* *tosses back a handful more Tums*) (did I mention that the mover's estimate was $22k?!?) (did I mention I'll be driving 12 hours down with a kid, 2 dogs, and a very nervous cat in my car to get to the closing down there, while my husband stays up here, in an empty house, to do the closing up here and then he drives down?) (how much do you wish you were me right now?)The good news is we love the house we bought down there. It's 7 minutes from the beach. 15 minutes from downtown. It's on a pond with jumping fish and chirping frogs and pollywogs. We call the house "Froggy". We love the area. I've lived there before. Charleston (and her beaches) has always been the city of my heart. So, all this pain will be worth it. I hope to be back to writing full-time in September.

Let me know if you'll be coming to YAllFest this year. I'll be there. I'd love to meet up!How are YOU? Read any good books lately? Write any good books lately?

May your pen be mighty

About Me

Lola Sharp

My name is Lola. (I'm not a showgirl) Yes, L-O-L-A Lola. It's the least of my worries. Let's move on, shall we?
This blog is mostly about my misadventures on the journey to publication and beyond. My passion for lush prose, quirky characters, art, music, literature, performing arts and anything creative will be a major theme here. This journey of mine will not always be pretty. Much like rubbernecking a train wreck, I know sometimes you just can't help but look at the carnage that is often my life. So strap on your neck brace, helmet and 5-point harness and come along for the ride!
Licentia poetica.